Abstract

Bounce geometry lasers have been shown to be well suited to high repetition rate Q-switching [1,2]. In the bounce geometry the laser mode makes a single grazing-incidence bounce through the gain region of a diode side-pumped slab amplifier. This allows for very high gains, as well as high beam qualities due to spatial averaging over the bounce. Unfortunately the gain of bounce amplifiers often limits the range of stable repetition rates that can be achieved to > 100 kHz [1,2] due to the limited hold-off available from acousto-optic (AO) Q-switches. In this work we have investigated the use of novel laser cavity designs to provide more flexible control over the Q-switch repetition rate. A system is demonstrated which allows stable Q-switching over 0 – 380 kHz repetition rate, with power/energy scalability by a bounce power amplifier.

© 2009 IEEE